Municipalities and Parishes of Madeira and Porto Santo

Municipalities and Parishes of Madeira and Porto Santo

The Archipelago of Madeira is a Portuguese region with political and administrative autonomy. The politico-administrative status of the Autonomous Region was established by the Portuguese Constitution, in 1976. The archipelago comprises Madeira, Porto Santo, Desertas and Savage Islands. Madeira and Porto Santo are inhabitated islands while Desertas and Savage Islands are unhabitated islands. These two last islands are classified as natural reserves. The Autonomous Region of Madeira has its own regional political and administrative statutes. Madeira Island is divided into Municipalities and Parishes. The municipalities are administrated by the Municipal Parliament and the Town Hall. However, theses municipalities are subdivided into parishes, which are smaller administrative divisions. Madeira Island comprises 11 municipalities, namely: Funchal, Santa Cruz, Machico, Santana, São Vicente, Porto Moniz, Calheta, Ponta do Sol, Ribeira Brava, Câmara de Lobos and Porto Santo. Besides, each municipality has several civil parishes. Funchal is the capital of Madeira and is the biggest municipality on the island. It comprises 10 Parishes, namely Imaculado Coração de Maria, Monte, Santra Luzia, Santa Maria Maior, Santo António, Saõ Gonçalo, São Martinho, São Pedro, São Roque and Sé. Santa Cruz only has 5 parishes: Camacha, Caniço, Gaula, Santa Cruz and Santo António da Serra. Also comprising 5 parishes is Machico municipality. These are Água de Pena, Caniçal, Machico, Porto da Cruz and Santo António da Serra. Santana, located in the northern part of the island, comprises 6 parishes, namely Arco de São Jorge, Faial, Ilha, Santana, São Jorge and São Roque do Faial. São Vicente is one of the smallest municipalities. It Only has three parishes, such as Boa Ventura, Ponta Delgada and São Vicente. Porto Moniz has Achadas da Cruz, Porto Moniz, Ribeira da Janela and Seixal, as civil parishes. Calheta is the second largest municipality on the island. It comprises 8 parishes, namely Arco da Calheta, Calheta, Estreito da Calheta, Fajã da Ovelha, Jardim do Mar, Paúl do Mar, Ponta do Pargo and Prazeres. Ponta do Sol only has three civil parishes, such as Canhas, Madalena do Mar and Ponta do SOl. Ribeira Brava comprises 4 parishes: Campanário, Ribeira Brava, Serra d´Água and Tabua. Câmara de Lobos has five parishes, namely Quinta Grande, Jardim da Serra, Estreito de Câmara de Lobos, Curral das Freiras and Câmara de Lobos. Porto Santo Island only has one parish, which is Porto Santo.